EDD Program Representative

Employment Development Department

3/25/1981

Special Act Award (Gold)

Employment Program Representatives Alfred Carrizosa and Howard Swafford were returning from an out-of-town business trip when they spotted a small car with several youths inside stalled in the fast line on Highway 91 near Corona. Without hesitation they pulled their car off the highway, ran back to route traffic around the vehicle, but it was too late. Before Mr. Carrizosa and Mr. Swafford could get there, another vehicle plowed into the rear of the disabled car. Its gas tank exploded, engulfing the car in a ball of flames. Mr. Swafford, a World War II veteran suffering more than a 30 percent disability, did not falter. He ran to the driver’s side of the flaming car and pulled out a teenage girl, her hair and clothes afire. Carrying her to safety, Mr. Swafford rolled her on the ground to extinguish the flames. With his bare hands he patted the fire out in her hair. Meanwhile Mr. Carrizosa, a Vietnam War veteran, ran to the passenger side and pulled a second youth to safety. He ran back to help a third teenage girl through the window. A fourth youth, a boy, managed to escape unassisted. The girls were hospitalized with second and third degree burns over 15 to 35 percent of their body, but they survived. Mr. Swafford suffered second degree burns on his right foot, left knee, hands and head in addition to numerous cuts and abrasions.